This course had a great selection of reading materials that made the dialogue more engaging, this course also gives you perspective, you are able to grasp the reality of how, when, and why things are the way they are today in this economy we live in. The structure of this course was very flexible which allowed you to have more time to digest the material and that is needed when you are learning about a system.

Increasing incomes sounds great verbally and socially but I would need to know what is at risk by doing so, what will be the opportunity cost, and what type of an effect will this increase in incomes more likely have? Any time I hear ‘increase’ from an economic perspective I instantly think of more printing and more inflation because with increased incomes will come increased costs/prices.

The book gave me more clarity about the foundation of the economy, how the economy evolved, why the economy experienced fluctuations, what the driving forces of an economy are, and how everyone had common interests and intentions but somehow ended up doing dark cruel activity.

The highest priority in this economy is not falling into this entrapment of reliance and dependability because conditions can change in the blink of an eye, sudden changes can occur, no one can assume that any variable within an economy shall remain or will remain constant, there should be a process created where there is a secondary focus on developing a preparation model plan for economic events that could most likely occur, and with new technologies/advancements comes new challenges and issues that will require new strategy but excerpts of old strategies or models; the old or traditional economic strategies and models will become partially redundant as we move into the future but the old economic strategies and models will still remain partially useful because these strategies and models are the foundation of the economy we live in today. To date, the economy is somewhat stable and this economy has overcame depressions and recessions but there is still issues with (I) investment at a societal level and employment; two variables that contribute to the drive of the economy.

The Keynesian and Monetarism theory both have excerpts that are concise about economic activity and preventing any recessions or depressions. Keynesian solely focused on investment into the economy by the working class and businesses alike, Monetarism focused on the economic changes within a time period that can yield a negative effect or result on an economy. Saving and investment does foster growth, expansion, and increased job opportunities because when more capital is acquired more skilled labor is needed to operate the capital being used; on the other hand the economic year is broken down into quarters and there is the short-run and long-run to consider; whatever happens in the short-run can effect what will result in the long-run so it is important to make the most benefiting decision that minimize bad risks. The Federal Reserve decreasing or increasing the money supply effects the short-run and the long-run of the economy, all awareness and attention needs to be focused on listing all possible outcomes that can realistically happen or reoccur, and then assess whether an increase or decrease is appropriate.

When looking at the emancipation of blacks and the migration of blacks to the North for better pay for the labor that was in high demand, there is one factor that wasn’t addressed or mentioned during this period of time where blacks were so called “free” and that is the implementation/mandate of the Jim Crow Law which brewed and fostered discrimination/segregation of blacks. Jim Crow laws being enacted and legalized in all of the southern states prohibited blacks from being able to work skilled-labor jobs even though blacks obtained all the skill needed through the unwarranted action of slavery; blacks did all of the assembly, cultivation, and renovation along with innovation and invention to make jobs and living less detrimental than it already had been. Jobs were inevitably dominated by whites or immigrants, which made moving North undeniably the move to make for blacks because blacks couldn’t work or perform certain jobs, the incentive to move North contributed to the ban of blacks being able to work where whites dominated, which was nearly everywhere in the southern states. Economically, in order for blacks to have a greater standard of living, a greater chance of surviving, and a greater socioeconomic standing, blacks needed to go North in order to obtain what they naturally have the right to obtain, but given the inhumane circumstance, to obtain the privileges the rest of society had.

I’ve always known that the Federal Reserve isn’t really “Federal” because the central government has no control over this system even though this system is seen as a denotation of the central government. The Federal Reserve is just a privatized institution, system, and board which controls the printing and delegation of money in the U.S. economy, which controls economic decision making within the U.S. central government, and which has dominion over the central government. There are commercial/member banks that belong to these 12 districts of the federal reserve and these banks are where the majority of U.S. citizens choose to store their income or savings, these banks have reserves that they are obligated to keep for borrowing purposes but the money kept in these reserves is derived from the multiple accounts of U.S. citizens who deposit their money, at any point in time where the federal reserve is in need because of the revolving deficit the U.S. has; the federal reserve can instantly increase the reserve requirement to create money to spend towards a debt with another country which means that these banks are withdrawing more money from multiple accounts held at its institution. Even when we are putting money in the bank, which has been promoted as an secure place to store your income and savings, we are still being taxed in a sense because money in a reserve is being derived from the accounts held at an member bank, the government along with privatization has systematically engineered an enclosed structure where money is being created at the expense of the people, the people didn’t create the debts and deficits that have been created because of poor management, organization, and prioritization by central government but it is inequitable that in different ways the people are paying for it. We are paying an debt/expense in order for the government and the federal reserve to maintain their international relations with the one’s that this country owes.

Railroads and the development of locomotives shaped the economy by creating an environment of ease and convenience similar to the way our economic environment is today. People were able to settle in areas that have formed into some of the major cities that we have today. Railroads stimulated trade and commerce in America but there’s no surprise that some railrodads violated the agreement by changing their prices to receive more business and to separate themselves. This economy experienced a momentary boom from the implementation of transportation in the economy and in addition economic centers/mecca’s were formed because of the settlements that resulted from this technical economic development.

Children were reproduced for productivity purposes rather than for fulfillment purposes and they were essentially economic assets during the agricultural age; it seems like at a certain point in time parents of the agricultural age depended or relied on their children having the capability to takeover or lead the production process. Children were seen as yield’s of income because of the economic climate at that point in time but there needed to be preparation for an economic shift.

The American economy has a flaw with being dependent because cotton was a dominant cash crop but people depended on cotton being somewhat everlasting without any variability in price, demand, and supply. Short term growth and profitability over shadowed the long term health of cotton as a primary crop and that turned out to be a hindrance because the reign of cotton had been replaced without the proper preparation or expectation for change.